Somali pirates continue to battle

Civil war broke out today amid a gang of Somali pirates holding a ship full of tanks and other weapons leaving three of them dead.

American warships have surrounded the Ukrainian cargo ship Faina which is anchored off the lawless coast of Somalia.

The gang of around 30 pirates have demanded a ransom of £10m (€12.7m) and the US Navy cordon aims to prevent them from taking any of the weapons ashore.

Reports of the shoot-out during an argument over whether to surrender came from Washington officials, but the pirates claimed they were not true and they were just celebrating the muslim feast of Eid al-Fitr.

“We didn’t dispute over a single thing, let alone have a shootout,” pirate spokesman Sugule Ali said by satellite telephone.

“We are happy on the ship and we are celebrating Eid,” Ali said. “Nothing has changed.”

The Ukrainian ship has been buzzed by American helicopters since Sunday. Pirates hijacked the Faina and its cargo of 33 Soviet-designed tanks and weapons last Thursday while the ship was passing through the Gulf of Aden, one of the world’s busiest shipping lanes, en route to the Kenyan port of Mombasa.

Ali said the vessel was surrounded by four warships but he could not identify where the ships were from. The San Diego-based USS guided missile destroyer Howard has been watching the pirate ship for several days and has spoken the pirates and crew by radio.

US Navy officials said they have allowed the pirates to resupply the ship with food and water, but not to unload any of its military cargo, which included Russian-built T-72 tanks, ammunition, and heavy weapons including rocket launchers.

The US fears the arms may end up with al-Qaida-linked Islamic militants who have been fighting an insurgency against the shaky, UN-backed Somali transitional government since late 2006, when the Islamists were driven out after six months in power. More than 9,000 people, most of them civilians, have been killed in the Iraq-style insurgency.

Russia has also dispatched a warship to the area, but it will take about a week to get there.

American military officials and diplomats say the weapons are destined for southern Sudan.

Piracy has become a lucrative criminal racket in impoverished Somalia, bringing in tens of millions of dollars a year in ransom. There have been 24 reported attacks this year.

Most pirate attacks occur in the Gulf of Aden to the north of Somalia. But recently pirates have been targeting Indian Ocean waters off eastern Somalia.

In all, 62 ships have been attacked in the notorious African waters this year. A total of 26 ships were hijacked, and 12 remain in the hands of the pirates along with more than 200 crew members.

International warships are patrolling the area and have created a special security corridor under a US-led initiative, but attacks have not abated.